a-Shell Downloads & Revenuea-Shell · App Store
a-Shell is #22 in Developer Tools Free in United States and charting in 15 of 30 countries we track.
Updated 8 Nov 2026 · rankings refresh through the day
24 Sep 2026Full timeline · 24 events
- 📦a-Shell updated to version 2.3.2- Fixes an issue that causes a crash on iOS 15, 16 and 17.
- new command: "relay", to connect from an external computer - ✏️a-Shell: needs a newer iOSiOS 14.0 → iOS 15.0
- 📦a-Shell updated to version 2.3.1- iPhone Duo support
- fixes an issue with iCloud support
- new command: "photos", for access to camera roll
- multiple smaller bug fixes - ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: termius, emulatorwords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: termiuswords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: termixwords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: terminalwords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- ✏️a-Shell: app got bigger2045 MB → 2264 MB (+11%)
- 📦a-Shell updated to version 2.3.0- updated certificate files for the main app and for Python to fix for the eMudhra CA Key Compromise issue.
- support for user fonts
- support for color themes
- new commands: node, npm, npx, helix, fzf, rg, fd, ruff, gix, ein, navi
- bug fixes: the terminal remains above the keyboard, the terminal gets the focus back on its own after you dismiss a "view" or a "play" window, matching the toolbar color with the terminal color, fixed several places where the app would crash...… more - ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: emulatorwords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: tmuxwords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: terminewords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: tmuxwords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: pytowords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: tmuxwords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: websshwords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: ssh, termius, tmux, pythonwords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: putty, termius, telnet, ssh +2 morewords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- ✏️a-Shell added hidden keywords: terminalwords in the App Store's hidden keyword field (found by probing search)
- 📈a-Shell entered the top 10Top Free · Developer Tools · ID
- 📈a-Shell entered the top 10Top Free · Developer Tools · KR
- 🆕a-Shell first spotted by AppInsider#16 in Top Free · Developer Tools · Germany
- 📦a-Shell version 2.2.2No release notes
- 🆕a-Shell released on the App Store
Collected from the stores by AppInsider since we first spotted the app. Dates are when we saw each change.
Developer Tools Freea-Shell at a glance
AI summary written from our chart and store data, 2026-10-21. It can be wrong: check the numbers above.
A-Shell is a free, native Unix terminal emulator for iOS and iPadOS that enables developers to run standard command-line tools, compile code, and manage files directly on their devices. The app maintains strong visibility in the Developer Tools category across major markets including South Korea (#3), Canada, Germany, and Japan (all #15), indicating consistent demand for mobile-native development environments.
Similar apps: iSH, Termius, Blink Shell
a-Shell on the App Store
App details
a-Shell downloads
Worldwide, per day, and installs to date. The band is open; the exact number is free with an account.
How this is calculated
Where a-Shell's downloads come from Modelled
Last 30 days: organic search, browsing the store, features and paid ads.
Active users
All platforms, worldwide. Free with an account.
Retention · share of new users still active
Time spent · per daily user
How this is calculated
Hidden keywords
a-Shell shows up in App Store search (US) for 4 words that appear nowhere in its name, subtitle or developer name, so they are almost certainly in its private keyword field, and it ranks in the top 10 for at least one of them.
Where it ranks now
Every top chart it appears in across 30 countries.
| Country | Charts | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Developer ToolsFree | #22 |
 Japan | Developer ToolsFree | #16 |
 South Korea | Developer ToolsFree | #11 |
 United Kingdom | Developer ToolsFree | #17 |
| Germany | Developer ToolsFree | #15 |
 China | Developer ToolsFree | #37 |
 France | Developer ToolsFree | #18 |
 Canada | Developer ToolsFree | #16 |
 Australia | Developer ToolsFree | #17 |
 Italy | Developer ToolsFree | #14 |
 India | Developer ToolsFree | #25 |
 Brazil | Developer ToolsFree | #25 |
 Saudi Arabia | Developer ToolsFree | #16 |
 United Arab Emirates | Developer ToolsFree | #19 |
 Indonesia | Developer ToolsFree | #32 |
Apps near a-Shell on the chart
Developer Tools Free, around #22.
Ratings
App Store, worldwide.
Review momentum
ⓘ How we measure thisNew ratings by country (2)
| Country | New ratings a week | Share | Last 2 weeks vs the 2 before |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2.8 | 70% | ▲ +125% |
| China | 1.2 | 30% | – |
App Store ratings in the countries we track, 4-week average.
Review momentum (0-100) blends how fast the app collects ratings compared with other apps in its category (60%), whether that pace is speeding up (25%) and what recent raters give it (15%; recent stars well below lifetime pull it down). Ratings counts are read daily. A jump usually means a launch, a feature, ads or a new review prompt.
What users say about a-Shell
From the 54 most recent App Store reviews in the US.
Users highly value the app's ability to provide a native iOS terminal with essential tools like Python, SSH, and FFmpeg, often calling it a powerful alternative to jailbreaking. However, recent updates have caused significant frustration regarding broken touch gestures, missing function keys, and inconsistent stability on newer iPadOS versions.
Mostly positive (78% of recent reviews give 4–5 stars). People like it for its features and content, and being useful. The main complaints are about crashes and bugs, and recent updates. Recent reviews are more negative than earlier ones.
What people like
- Features & content: “iPadOS should come with these tools be default”
- Useful: “Support for Apple Shortcuts is very useful”
- Speed & performance: “Fast and responsive; feels more like ~home”
- Updates: “Essential app; great new update”
Common complaints
- Crashes & bugs: “Toolbar broken on iOS (portrait mode)”
- Updates: “The same issue also exists in the latest version of a-Shell mini”
About a-Shell
Most commands are compiled for iOS native Arm64 format, making them fast and well integrated with the BSD Unix that powers iOS/iPadOS.
a-Shell includes Python, Lua, Perl, JavaScript, C, C++ for programming and TeX (texlive 2025, with Tikz and LuaTeX) for text processing.
There are also multiple network utilities: nslookup, ping, whois, ifconfig... Type help for help, help -l to get the full list of commands.
a-Shell can be controlled from Shortcuts: run commands in order, process files in a-Shell, get the results as text or files, transfer files to other apps...
a-shell uses iOS 13+ “multiple windows” ability, so you can run multiple shells at the same time, with different commands, in different directories. You can edit a file in one window with vim and process it in the other with python.
Compile your C or C++ programs to webAssembly using clang or clang++, and execute the resulting binary. A complete webAssembly SDK is included (WASI-libc).
a-Shell is the complete version. If you need a smaller app, and you don't need a C compiler, a TeX engine, or numpy and matplotlib, there is a-Shell mini.
Latest updates
Store changes
What a-Shell changed on its store page: name, icon, screenshots, price, size, languages, requirements.
More from Nicolas Holzschuch
Similar apps
Apps people compare with a-Shell: the same core purpose or gameplay, checked one by one.
